a. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus useful in the assembly of certain types of devices, for example, hand-wired printed circuit boards.
B. Description of the Prior Art
It is common in the art of printed circuit board wiring to utilize a multi-pin connector including a base upon which are mounted a plurality of electrically conducting pins, the pins being regularly spaced and mounted perpendicular to the base. A standard practice is to construct printed circuit boards having a plurality of holes extending therethrough, the holes being regularly spaced to coincide with the spacing of the pins on the connector. Electrical connections are made between the board and the connector by mounting the board upon a connector, hand placing one or more solder washers over the pins extending through the holes to be electrically connected, and passing a heat source over the board and connector to melt the solder. In such a wiring process, it is commonly required to place two solder washers on each pin of the connector, with 70 or more pins to each connector. Thus, it is necessary to place 140 or more of the solder washers by hand and one at a time for each connector used. Because the solder washers are commonly quite small, on the order of 0.075 inches outside diameter and 0.020 inches thick, the hand placing of the washers is a very precise and tedious process. Obviously, the labor associated with such an operation greatly increases the cost of building such a circuit.